Kirk Mangus Dies at 60; Professor and Head of Kent State Ceramics Program

Posted Dec. 4, 2013

Professor Kirk Mangus, head of the ceramics program at the Kent State University School of Art, died of an aneurysm on Nov. 24.

Mangus had served as head of ceramics at Kent State since 1985. He also taught at Alfred University Summer School, the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Cranbrook Academy of Art, the University of Georgia’s Cortona (Italy) program, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Appalachian Center for Craft, Penland School of Crafts, Peters Valley Craft Center and numerous other institutions. He was a lecturer, visiting artist and resident artist in China, Japan, Korea, France, Italy, Finland, Lithuania, Canada and throughout the United States.

Mangus was a prolific artist whose ceramics and drawings have been exhibited and collected worldwide for over 35 years. He was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, four Ohio Arts Council fellowships, a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship, and a McKnight fellowship residency at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis.

He is survived by his wife, Eva Kwong, a part-time faculty member in ceramics at Kent State, as well as his son Jasper and daughter Una.

There will be a reception and memorial service to celebrate Kirk Mangus’s life on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the School of Art Gallery and adjacent auditorium, located on the second floor of the Art Building. The reception, running from noon to 2 p.m., will include the sharing of poems and artwork; the memorial service will begin at 2.

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